Crystal sphere
This article is about the celestial objects known as crystal spheres, if you are looking for the AD&D adventure module named after them see SJA3 Crystal Spheres. A crystal sphere, also known as a crystal shell, is an object of great size that surrounds an entire planetary system and forms a boundary that separates wildspace from the phlogiston.''Concordance of Arcane Space'' pages 9-10 The size of crystal spheres is related to the size of the planetary system within them. As the name 'crystal sphere' implies, the objects are spherical.''Concordance of Arcane Space'' pages 9-10 Although they are solid, crystal spheres have no gravity and no atmosphere. The material crystal spheres are made of is an unbreakable dark ceramic material. No magic is powerful enough to damage crystal spheres.''Concordance of Arcane Space'' pages 9-10 Travel through a crystal sphere Only a few methods are known to allow travel from one side of a crystal sphere to the other side.''Concordance of Arcane Space'' pages 9-10 Teleport or Dimension Door spells These spells (or magical devices that duplicate them) allow spellcasters to jump from one side of the sphere to the other without physically crossing the sphere.''Concordance of Arcane Space'' pages 9-10 Phase Door spell This spell (or a magical item that duplicates it) makes part of the crystal sphere immaterial and allows a spelljamming ship to pass through.''Concordance of Arcane Space'' pages 9-10 Naturally occurring portals Most crystal spheres have natural portals that pierce the shell at various locations. These portals usually appear and vanish at random times and are located in random places. Looking for these portals can take a long time.''Concordance of Arcane Space'' pages 9-10 Stars In some crystal spheres, stars are located on the inside of the crystal shell. A few of these stars are themselves also natural portals through the crystal sphere. A spelljamming ship diving into the heart of the star would pass through the shell and appear in the phlogiston. However, a high number of stars are portals to the Plane of Radiance or the Plane of Fire. Flying a ship into one of those stars would be fatal.''Concordance of Arcane Space'' pages 9-10 ''The Spelljammer'' and creatures like space dragons The legendary ship, called ''The Spelljammer'', and some large space creatures, like space dragons, seem to have an innate ability to create portals similar to the natural portals. These portals close slowly over time, so ships can sometimes use them.''Concordance of Arcane Space'' pages 9-10 The Create Portal spell This spell duplicates the natural ability of The Spelljammer and space dragons, but the portals created by this spell have a much shorter duration. Portals created via this spell last no longer than 120 minutes.''Concordance of Arcane Space'' pages 9-10 Individual crystal spheres Size of individual crystal spheres The size of crystal spheres is usually determined by the size of the planetary system within them. Each sphere usually is usually twice the diameter as the outermost planet within the crystal sphere, but spheres can be larger than this.''Concordance of Arcane Space'' pages 9-10 There are often astronomical objects that defy this 'double diameter' rule and orbit outside the outermost planet. Sages who support the 'double diameter' rule usually argue that these celestial bodies are additional astronomicals rather than true planets.''SJR6 Greyspace'' page 3 Nested spheres It is possible for a crystal sphere to contain another crystal sphere, or a series of smaller and smaller crystal spheres.''Concordance of Arcane Space'' Nonstandard Systems sidebar pages 68, 70 and 72 Main theories There are six main theories about the origin of the crystal spheres. The gods created the shells and the flow The gods created the spheres and the Phlogiston in order to divide up the universe. The gods split the universe into chaos (the flow) and order (the spheres). They then divided up the individual spheres among themselves in order to test law against chaos and good against evil.''Concordance of Arcane Space'' Notes on the Creation of the Universe sidebar pages 42, 44, 46 and 48 The gods have their own gods These gods-of-gods created the universe, and then placed the gods into the universe. This theory gained more popularity in Realmspace in recent times.''Concordance of Arcane Space'' Notes on the Creation of the Universe sidebar pages 42, 44, 46 and 48 The Phlogiston is a naturally occurring object The Phlogiston was there before the gods. The gods built the crystal spheres to settle and domesticate the flow. The spheres are like cities built along a stream and eventually they will grow and join together. When this happens the Phlogiston will cease to exist.''Concordance of Arcane Space'' Notes on the Creation of the Universe sidebar pages 42, 44, 46 and 48 The gods fear the flow The gods fear the Phlogiston and built the spheres to keep it out.''Concordance of Arcane Space'' Notes on the Creation of the Universe sidebar pages 42, 44, 46 and 48 The gods fear men and other sentient beings The gods fear humans and other sentient creatures and built the crystal spheres to keep them in.''Concordance of Arcane Space'' Notes on the Creation of the Universe sidebar pages 42, 44, 46 and 48 The Phlogiston and the shells are naturally occurring Someone or something created the entire universe and the gods moved in and took over. There is a secondary implication, that the gods have lied about creating the universe to deceive mortals.''Concordance of Arcane Space'' Notes on the Creation of the Universe sidebar pages 42, 44, 46 and 48 Appendix See also * Category:Crystal spheres (the category for crystal spheres) * SJA3 Crystal Spheres External Links * * [http://www.spelljammer.org/worlds/#h_CrystalSpheres Crystal Spheres at Beyond the Moons] (the official Spelljammer website) * [http://www.spelljammer.org/worlds/articles/SphereGuide/Guide%20to%20the%20Spheres.pdf An "official" Spelljammer Guide to the Spheres by Paul Westermeyer at Beyond the Moons] (the official Spelljammer website) References Category:CoAS canon Category:LotV canon Category:SJR6 canon Category:Crystal spheres